The present invention is directed to a hand held communication aid for the dumb and more particularly to an aid which has an input alpha-numeric keyboard and a visual display.
A communication aid having a hand held keyboard and a light emitting diode display fastened to the lapel of the user or "speaker" is shown in an article in Medical and Biological Engineering, January, 1975, Volume 13, No. 1, pages 84-88 entitled "An Alphanumeric Display As A Communication Aid For The Dumb" by A. F. Newell et al. This article in slightly different format has been published in 1976 as Chapter 13 of a book entitled Aids For The Severely Handicapped and edited by Keith Copeland. Chapter 13 is entitled "Talking Brooch` Communication Aid", which is a reference to the lapel type display. The book chapter on page 107 discusses the use of "the brooch" in conjunction with standard telephone receivers to form a portable telephone communication system for the deaf or dumb.
The foregoing Newell communication aid while useful still has many defects which reduce its ease of use.